Widow Immolation Custom Prevails Over Law

By Ranjit Dev Raj, IPS, 8 dec 1999

NEW DELHI, Dec 8 (IPS) - Activist groups are demanding stricter
implementation of Indian laws against glorifying 'sati' -- the
practice of widows burning themselves on the funeral pyre of
their husbands -- another instance of which occurred last month.

After visiting Satpurva village in northern Uttar Pradesh
state where Charan Shah, 55, killed herself on Nov. 11, they are
demanding "action" against three temples in the area built on
the site of previous immolations, which are banned by law.

According to the report by Nirantar, Saheli and other
autonomous groups, the belief that a sati has the power to grant
wishes has attracted people, especially women, to these shrines
at Magrauta, Mahoba and Jaari, the last built for a sati in 1980.

The groups also want action against people who 'participated'
in Charan Shah's gruesome death and who are now attempting to
glorify it and build the customary shrine at the site.

Everyone in the village admitted to letting the widow burn
but wished to steer clear of the possibility of being accused of
forcing her or even instigating her into the act.

Some villagers told the 12-member team that Charan Shah was
pushed back into the fire and there were active efforts to keep
the fire going. There could, in any case, have been no "innocent
witnessing" of such an event, the report said.

"The manner in which reactionary patriarchal values combines
with the desire to commercialise religion and strengthen orthodox
notions of womanhood makes this a particularly dangerous trend."

According to the report, Charan Shah's death was a case of
sati rather than a simple suicide as concluded by the left-wing,
All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) following a
separate investigation.

The National Commission for Women (NCW), a statutory body,
went a step further and declared Charan Shah a "highly
distressed and depressed person," who acted "irrationally."

According to lawyer Jayanti Natarajan, member of the Rajya
Sabha or upper house of Parliament, an avoidable controversy was
created by those who went public with findings that Charan Shah
committed suicide and not sati.

"In a very real sense, this vitiated a proper probe by the
local authorities who had the jurisdiction, facilities and
responsibility to get to the truth of the matter," Natarajan
wrote in 'The Hindu' newspaper, Dec. 3.

Natarajan also found fault with the view expressed in an
article by Madhu Kishwar, the editor of the feminist magazine,
'Manushi', that while forcible sati was criminal, sati committed
voluntarily was a cultural tradition.

Similar views have been expressed in the past by leading
members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which rose to
power over the last decade through a sustained Hindu
fundamentalist campaign.

"There was and never can be a cultural tradition that
sanctifies the death of a human being," Natarajan declared.

Natarajan said sati was a barbaric practice which should be
stamped out with "uncompromising ruthlessness," and that those
who counselled caution would be "falling into the trap of
apologists for sati who exist in this country even today."

The British colonial administration first banned sati in 1829
but stray incidents have continued to happen -- the most
sensational occurring in the largely feudal, northwestern
Rajasthan state just 12 years ago.

In that case hundreds of people watched as Roop Kanwar, an
educated 18-year-old was led to the funeral pyre of her husband
to be burnt alive in her bridal finery.

Local politicians had then vied to be involved in the
incident in order to gain political mileage out of it. Agitated
women's groups forced the government to amend existing anti-sati
laws to make the glorification of the event punishable.

Despite the public outcry over the sati of Roop Kanwar and the
new laws, all 32 persons arrested in connection with it were
acquitted by courts for "lack of evidence" and because of
the willful inaction of the state government of Rajasthan.

Roop Kanwar's gory death also enriched her community through
generous donations which poured in and may have served as further
encouragement for the practice.

"In addition to the fundamental problem of the low status of
women and patriarchal misconceptions, economic gain is a potent
motivation for the supporters of sati," Natarajan said.

Newspaper reports show the villagers of Satpurva strongly in
favour of declaring the site sacred. "It is the will of god that
we worship Charan Shah," they have been quoted as saying.

In spite of laws against the abetment of sati or its
glorification, a local religious leader Padakhanda Shah has in
newspaper interviews strongly favoured the granting of
"satihood" to Charan Shah.

According to Natarajan, the phenomenon of sati can only be
neutralised by "multi-pronged action on all fronts, including
governmental, legislative and social."

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